My videophone chat was with a man named Jerry Cohen, who is a realtor located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. While he does not have any children, he does live with his partner named Eric who works as an IT. He feels that his white Cocker Spaniel named Cody is his child. He described Cody’s personality as energetic and loyal. He has had Cody for eight years. Jerry has a twin brother named Jeff and two younger sisters named Julie and Jill; they are 50, 47, and 43 years old, respectively. Jeff and his twin look alike in terms of facial appearance—slightly round, oval face and a thin nose. He also described his younger siblings as lean and tall. His parents’ names are Nat and Howard. He lost his mother at a young age, but he seemed to have fond memories of her. Both his and Eric’s daily routines are similar in that they both go to work and cook dinner when they get home in the evening.

After the first round of questions, I began to ask about his life experience prior to our conversation. Jerry attended Columbia University in New York City and he said that he loved NYC. Moreover, he expressed is dissatisfaction with living in Doylestown and wished that he was in Florida because of the warm weather. He also stated that he had met Professor Drolsbaugh around five years ago during a work-related function. I had initially been very nervous at the start of our conversation, but Jerry did a wonderful job ensuring that I was following him and ultimately put my mind at ease. Also, I found that we also shared a number of similarities because we both are originally from Chicago—however, he could see that I had not lived there for a substantial period of time because of the various references he made regarding various streets that clearly went over my head.

I found that the signs that Jerry used during our chat were identical to those used in class. While there were certainly a number of signs used that required clarification, it was ultimately because we had never covered them in class. For instance, the sign for “CHICAGO” was identical to the sign covered in class. However, the sign he used for “DOG” included a slap on the thigh, which may be a regional addition. I also found that his eyebrow placement coincided with what was taught in class. The questions he targeted towards me were clearly indicated with the raise or lowering of the eyebrows, so it was fairly easy for me to understand when he was expecting an answer. Moreover, the grammar structure seemed to directly follow what was taught in class (e.g. “HOW-YOU-WHAT?”). If there was a huge issue in regards to my understanding of his signing, he would even mouth the words so that I could follow. Overall, I felt that the conversation went well and I wish that there were more opportunities for these sort of chats during the school year.